Winners praised at Wildlife Friendly Gardening competition

On Wednesday 19 July, Dorset’s most wildlife friendly gardens were celebrated at Castle Gardens in Sherborne at Dorset Wildlife Trust’s annual Wildlife Friendly Garden Competition, which is sponsored by The Gardens Group.

This year’s competition not only saw a record number of entries, with over 75 gardens from schools and visitor centres to small patios and large meadows entered, but it also received entries from younger gardeners, with Charlie, the youngest contender ever to enter, (pictured above left) picking up a Highly Commended in the Small Garden category.

Before the awards were announced, RHS qualified gardener and author, Kate Bradbury, (above centre) took guests on an inspiring ‘warts and all’ journey, revealing how she turned a small basement flat garden in Brighton filled with decking and concrete and not a glimpse of wildlife in sight, into a haven for local bees, butterflies and birds. Kate now receives an abundance of species into her urban garden and provided the 165-strong audience with some useful advice and tips on how to welcome life back into any sized garden.

Mike Burks, managing director of The Gardens Group, explains; “Each year the bar is raised even higher and the entrants into the competition get more creative and sophisticated in their efforts to provide vital corridors for our wildlife. This year we saw more life and entries than ever before, and it’s an absolute pleasure to see how this way of gardening is progressing among all ages and us wildlife friendly gardeners no longer have to hide in the dark! I thoroughly enjoy visiting these gardens during the judging process and seeing the difference these wonderful havens are making to the county’s wildlife, I hope everyone left feeling proud of their efforts and inspired to keep it up.”

Wildlife Friendly Garden Competition Awards 2017

Large gardens

First place: Diana Guy from Wimborne

Second place: Meriel Peain from Preston

Third place: Michael Evans from Wimborne

Highly commended: Gillian Ringrose from Dorchester

Highly commended: David & Jo Hartgill from Gillingham

Medium gardens

First place: Christine Rashleigh-Berry from Preston

Second place: Matt Porter from Dorset

Third place: Bernard Sullivan from Bourton

Highly commended: Julian & Judith Wardlaw from Dorchester

Highly commended: Joan Timms from Shaftesbury

Small gardens

First place: Lucy Daisy Jenkins from Wimborne

Second place: Carole Irving from Maiden Newton

Third place: Margaret Bascombe from Poole

Highly commended: Charlie, Megan and Ivie from Wimborne

Gardens in rented accommodation

First place: Sarah Jane Buckle from Poole

Second place: John Arundel from Portland

Third place: Mr & Mrs Morton from Blandford Forum

Community gardens

First place: Michael House in Grosvenor Gardens, Boscombe

Second place: Jan Ayrton, Oakdale Library Gardens in Poole

Third place: Julie Yeates, Wyke Primary School in Gillingham

Highly Commended: Paul Smith, Pine Tree Bungalow in Sherborne

Highly Commended: The Residents of Drummond Wolff House in Bournemouth

Notes to editor

Organised by Dorset Wildlife Trust, the Wildlife Friendly Garden Competition is an annual scheme sponsored by The Gardens Group, championing gardeners in Dorset who create wildlife havens in their gardens, no matter how big or small their space.

Gardeners of all ages are welcome to enter their garden into the competition, as long as it is in Dorset. There is even a category for schools, communities and businesses to enter if they have a space where bumblebees, birds and butterflies thrive.

After months of judging, the top gardens are announced at an awards ceremony, which is held at Castle Gardens in Sherborne. With past guest speakers including the founder of Butterfly World, Clive Farrell, Gardener’s World presenter, Toby Buckland, and more recently, botanist, author and lecturer, Bob Gibbons, green-fingered folk enjoy an evening of Q&A with the professionals, as well as sharing advice and tips with fellow gardeners.

Following the awards ceremony everyone goes home with a certificate, feedback form and gift voucher for The Gardens Group garden centres located in Sherborne, Yeovil and Poundbury, Dorchester. Winners receive Dorset Wildlife Trust membership for a year, a wooden plaque and a gardening kit.

Comments

Anonymous

2017-07-24 17:44:41

0

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Thank you for running this competition, and for my certificate and plaque received in the post today. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the prize giving ceremony and talk. I appreciated the feedback sent to me about my garden. However the information you had was wrong, I have in fact 2 small ponds, whereas you obviously thought I did not have any! I know that you had many gardens to judge and it's not surprising that you made an error. Thank you again for your hard work.
Best wishes,
Rachel Stevens,
23, Walton Road, Bournemouth, BH10 4BJ.
Medium Garden

Thank you for running this competition, and for my certificate and plaque received in the post today. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the prize giving ceremony and talk. I appreciated the feedback sent to me about my garden. However the information you had was wrong, I have in fact 2 small ponds, whereas you obviously thought I did not have any! I know that you had many gardens to judge and it's not surprising that you made an error. Thank you again for your hard work.
Best wishes,
Rachel Stevens,
23, Walton Road, Bournemouth, BH10 4BJ.
Medium Garden